Drier



Nov. 8, 1949 H. L. NEWELL 2,487,722

DRIER Filed Nov. 6, 1946 4 Sheets-Sheet l E INVENTOR HEBER L, NEWELL I19 1 BY W ATTORNEY Nov. 8, 1949 H. L. NEWELL 2,487,722

DRIER Filed Nov. 6, 1946 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 2 6a 82 HEB R L. NEWELL Nov. 8, 1949 H. NEWELL 2,487,722

DRIER Filed Nov. 6, 1946 4 Sheets-Sheet 5 INVENTOR HEBER L. NEWELL 87 I BY /9 I151. 15' ATTORNEY Nov. 8, 1949 H. L. NEWELL 2,487,722

DRIER r'iled Nov. 6, 1946 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 53 -55 T l T 58 ,53

IIIIIII NVENTOR HEBER L. NEWELL ATTORNEY Patented Nov. 8, 1949 DRIER Heber L. Newell, Fiahkill, N. Y., assignor to Reeves Ely Laboratories, Inc., New York, N. Y., a corporation of New York Application November 8, 1946, Serial No. 708,005 Claims. (Ci- 34-233) The present invention relates to new and useful improvements in dryers and more particularly improvements in drying apparatus of the type including a drying chamber through which air is circulated for the purpose of removing moisture from the articles or materials contained therein.

In general the invention contemplates the provision of a dryer which is particularly adapted for domestic use in the drying of articles of wearing apparel, linen or the like. The dryer consists generally of a'cabinet section in which the articles or materials to be dried are adapted to be supported, a bottom section on which the cabinet section is supported and in which a heating unit is mounted, and a top section secured to the cabinet section and having mounted therein a fan or other air circulating device.

An object of the invention is to provide a drying apparatus of the above type wherein the top, bottom and cabinet sections are readily removed one from another so as to facilitate the dryer being placed in or removed from relatively inaccessible places and to facilitate transportation, storing and the like of the dryer.

Another object is to provide a dryer wherein air is taken into the dryer cabinet, heated, passed through or over the articles being dried and then exhausted, ,the construction providing for the intake of air at a place substantially above floor level to avoid pulling dust and dirt ofl the floor and into the articles being dried.

A further object is to provide a dryer wherein heated air is moved upwardly through the clothes or other articles being dried and is then exhausted, the movement of the heated air being in a direction to somewhat agitate the articles being dried and also to have the greatest drying action on the lower portions of said articles, and to which portions moisture gravitates from the other portions of said articles, whereby they are more uniformly dried.

A still further object is to provide a drying apparatus of the above type wherein the separate sections are complete in themselves so that the bottom or heating unit section and the top or fan section may be removed with their associated sections as a unit.

Another object is to provide a drying apparatus of the above type wherein the fan or the heating unit may be conveniently removed from the corresponding section for repair, replacement or the like.

The invention still further aims to provide a drying apparatus of the above type which is relatively simple in construction, which may be extremely light in weight and which is thoroughly eillcient in operation.

The above and other objects of the invention will in part be obvious and will be hereinafter more fully pointed out.

In the accompanying drawings:

Fig. 1 is a front view partly in elevation and partly in section along th line l-l of Fig. 2 and showing the assembled apparatus constructed in accordance with the principles of the present invention.

Fig. 2 is a sectional view taken along the line 2-4 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a detail prespective view showing the body portion of the bottom section;

Fig. 4 is a detail perspective view showing one of the identical end members for closing the ends of the body of the bottom section;

Fig. 5 is a perspective view showing the assembled bottom section;

Fig. 6 shows the electric wiring diagram for the fan motor and the heating unit;

Fig. 7 is an enlarged sectional view taken along the line 'I'| of Fig. 2 and showing the heating unit and mounting thereof;

Fig. 8 is an enlarged sectional view taken along the line 8-8 of Fig. '7, and showing one of the insulating hooks for supporting the heating unit;

Fig. 9 is a front elevation of Fig. 8 showing the manner in which the insulating hook is mounted;

Fig. 10 is an enlarged sectional view showing one of the mating doors in open position; and

Fig. 11 is a view similar to Fig. 10 and taken along the line ll-ll of Fig. 2 but showing the door in its closed position.

Referring more in detail to the accompanying drawings and'particularly to Figs. 1 and 2, the drying apparatus of the present invention includes three separate sections, that is, a cabinet or intermediate section A; a bottom section B which carries a heating unit; and a top section C carrying a circulating fan and motor. The cabinet section A provides the drying chamber and is supported on the bottom section B. The top section C is supported directly on the top of the cabinet section and the several sections are in direct communication for the passage of air therethrough. Thus, circulation of air through the cabinet section is efiected by the circulating fan which draws warm air upwardly from the heating unit in th bottom section.

The intermediate or cabinet section A includes vertical side walls H), H and a rear wall II. The

r with openings front of the cabinet section is closed by mating doors I only one of which is shown in the drawings. The mating doors, are each hinged, as at N, to the inturgedvertical flanges l at the outer or fronigends of the side walls I0, I I. The side walls l0, II are each provided with inwardly extending upper and lower flanges Illa, I01) and Ila, llb, respectively, and the rear wall i2 is .provided with top and bottom inwardly extending flanges l2a, i2b, respectively.

A vertical wall portion l1 extends across the front of the cabinet section adjacent the bottom thereof and is detachably secured, as by bolts or the like, to the inturned vertical flanges l5 of the side walls. This wall or panel portion 11 is provided with an inwardly extending horizontal portion [8 through which the wire leads l9for the heating unit extend. The horizontal wall section l8 then extends downwardly, as at 20, to provide a baflle which serves the purpose of directin inwardly drawn air downwardly into the bottom section B and into contact with the heating unit therein. As indicated in the drawings, the bottom end of the wall portion 20 is disposed substantially horizontally and is secured by bolts 2| to the bottom flanges l0b, lib of the side walls.

The inner surface of the rear wall i2 can be provided with any suitable number of horizontally extending and vertically disposed channel members 23 which are bolted or otherwise detachably secured thereto. These channel members are substantially U-shaped and provide an open front deflned by inwardly extending flanges 24 which provide guide or trackways for a plurality of hanger elements 25. These elements include a base portion 26 and forwardly extending U-shaped arms 27, the leg portions of which provide hangers over which the articles to be dried may be supported and are secured to the base portion 26. As indicated in Fig. 1, one end of the channel members is left open, as at 29, so as to permit the base portions of the hanger elements to be applied and removed therefrom and any number or arrangement thereof may be employed.

At the bottom of the open front of the cabinet section and below the mating doors, there is provided a plate 30 which extends entirely across the front of the cabinet section and is secured by bolts 3| or the like. This plate 30 is formed extending horizontally therethrough and with the metal thereof bent to provide louvers 32 through which the air may be drawn. Attention is directed to the fact that the location of the louvers in the lower portion of cabinet section A locates them well above the floor so that dust and dirt will not be drawn ofi the floor and into the dryer.

Referring more in detail to Figs. 3, 4 and 5, the bottom section B is illustrated as including a sheet metal body portion having a bottom wall 34 which extends entirely across the width of the cabinet section and is provided at the rear end thereof with an upwardly extending vertical wall portion 35 terminating in an inwardly or forwardly directed horizontal flange 36. The forward end 31 of the body portion is directed upwardly and outwardly at an oblique angle and also terminates in an inwardly or rearwardly directed horizontal flange 38.

The body portion is closed at the ends thereof by complemental end members 39, 39a one of which is shown in Fig. 4 and the description of one will suflice. Thus, the end member 33 includes an outer vertical closing wall 40 having inwardly directed top and bottom flanges II, a respectively, and also having inwardly directed vertical front and rear end flanges 42, 42a, re,- spectively. End flanges 42 at the front of the cabinet section is provided with a flange portion 43 extending inwardly and abutting against the adjacent face of the inclined wall 31 of the body portion. The bottom flange la of each end member is provided with downwardly pressed bosses 44 which serve as supporting feet for the drying apparatus when assembled.

As illustrated, the inwardly directed flanges 36, 38 of the body portion are provided with spertures 45 adjacent the ends thereof and registering with aperture 46 through the top flanges ll of the' end members. Thus, I provide registering openings for the reception of bolts 41 or the like which extend through corresponding openings in the bottom flanges [0b, lib, i2b of the side walls and the rear wall. respectively, of the cabinet section. Therefore, the bottom section is removably secured to the cabinet section and may be readily assembled or disassembled as a unit.

It will be seen that the front ends of the end closing members 39, 39a form a continuation of the front vertical wall of the apparatus and thus guard against any tendency of the apparatus to be tilted forwardly by reason of the inclined wall portion 31 at the front of the bottom section. The space provided by the inclined wall portion 31 beneath the front face of the apparatus affords toe room permitting a person to get close to the apparatus for removing the contents of the drying chamber when desired.

Referring more in detail to Figs. 7, 8 and 9, the end members 39, 39a of the bottom section each carry channel members 50, 50 extending horizontally along and suitably secured to the inner faces thereof. These channel members are provided with spaced openings only one of Which will be described.

Each channel member faces outwardly to provide with the adjacent wall surface a horizontally extending chamber or passage as is shown in Figs. 8 and 9. One of the openings 53 through the face of the channel member 50 affords communication with the passage and has at one end thereof an additional part removed, as' at 54, to provide an enlarged entering opening for an insulating hook 55.

The opposite end of each opening is reduced in size'and there is an intermediate depending shoulder 56 so as to prevent removal of the insulating hooks when shifted to their assembled positions. The insulating hooks may be made of any suitable material and each, such as the hook 55, is provided with a substantially rectangular base portion 51 which may be fitted in the enlarged end 54 of the opening 53 and then shifted bodily into the reduced end thereof. Slight tilting of the hook is necessary to pass the shoulder 56 when shifting in either direction.

The heating unit is illustrated as being in the form of a resistance wire 58 which is trained back and forth between adjacent insulating hooks. The intermediate portions of the runs of the heating wire are additionally supported substantially midway between the sides of the bottom section and reference is made to Figs. 1, 2 and 7 in this connection. It will be seen that there are provided upper and lower insulating plates 60, 3|, respectively, which have their adjacent edges substantially scalloped to provide mutually over-lapping projecting portions 60a, Gla respec-,

tively, between each of which is defined an opening for the passage of the corresponding run of the heating wire.

Thus, the heating wire 58 is supported intermediate the ends of the various runs thereof and the insulating plates are supported by brackets 62 which may be welded or otherwise suitably secured to the bottom wall 34 of the bottom section. A wire screen 63 extends across the bottom of the cabinet Section to prevent any of the contents thereof from fallin into contact with the heating unit.

As shown in Figs. 1 and 2, top section Cforms an enclosing portion having a front wall 65, side wall 68, and a rear Wall 61, the bottom edges of which are provided with inturned flanges 65a, 66a, 81a, respectively, across which a bottom wall 88 is secured. Wall 68 is provided with a central opening closed by a screen 69 which depends therefrom and is secured by a bracket member secured across the central opening in the bottom wall and adapted to support an electric motor 1 I which drives a circulating fan 12.

Spaced louvers 13 are formed in the front wall 55. The design of these louvers is such as to disperse the air as much as possible so as to cut down the velocity at any point. This reduces the effect of a blast of air blowing in the face of a user approaching or standing in front of the dryer when the latter is in operation. The entire top section is supported on and detachably secured to the inwardly turned top flanges Illa, Ha, Ha of the side and rear walls, respectively. of the cabinet section. As more particularly shown in Figs. 2, 10 and 11, the bottom wall 68 is extended downwardly as at 15, and inwardly as at 16, across the front opening of the cabinet section and within the vertical flanges l5 of the side walls In, H.

The inwardly directed portion or flange 76 has pivotally secured thereto a lever 11 which is pivotally joined at its free end to another lever or link 18 which, in turn, is pivoted to a bracket 19 on the inner face of the door It. A spring 80 may be associated with the lever and bracket so as to normally force the doors toward open position or toward closed position when they are moved to one side or the other of an intermediate or dead center position. This is of importance as insuring that when the doors are moved toward closed position they will close and will stay closed while the dryer is in use.

Hinge construction i6 is also more clearly showrf in Figs. 10 and 11 wherein the hinge bracket 82 is substantially U-shaped with one leg portion 83 secured to the inner face of the vertical flange I5 and with the other leg portion 84 joined to the pintle 85 which is carried by a sleeve 86 on the door. It is to be understood that the same hinge and spring lever mechanism are provided for the mating door which is not shown.

From the foregoing description, it will be seen that the present invention provides an improved and simplified dryer wherein the top, bottom and intermediate sections may be readily operated to facilitate placing of the apparatus in inaccessible locations and to also facilitate transportation or storage of the apparatus. Each section is complete in itself and may be handled as a unit and, in fact, the intermediate or cabinet section may be readily dismantled. Also, the fan is removable with the top section and the entire heating unit is removable with the bottom section. This arrangement greatly facilitates the repair or replacement of the heating unit or the fan either of which is readily removed from or assembled with the corresponding section of the apparatus.

When assembled, it is apparent that the fan will draw air upwardly through the dry chamber and the air is first directed downwardly by the baffle 20 into the bottom section where it is heated by the heating unit. After passing upwardly through the drying chamber, the air passes out through the opening 13 in the top section.

Movement of the air upwardly through the clothes or other articles being dried has certain advantages. One such advantage is that the clothes come out of the dryer in a softer condition due to the fact that the upwardly drawn air serves to keep the clothes in a little greater state of agitation. Also, dry clothes tend to move over against dry clothes shutting off passage of air between the dry clothes and thereby allowing for greater velocity of air through and over wet clothes. Further, with the updraft of air the greatest amount of drying takes place at the bottom of the clothes where the air is drier and of higher temperature. However, as the water in the clothes tends to settle to the bottom lower edges of the latter the more rapid drying action at the lower edges is balanced out whereby more uniform drying of the clothes is obtained. Should the direction of movement of the air be reversed the drying will be less at the lower edges of the clothes and the latter will dry unevenly and a much greater length of time will be required for a drying operation.

The motor II and heating unit are shown in the circuit of Fig. 6. A plug 81 may be inserted in any suitable electric socket and a switch 88 is provided for opening and closing the circuit.

While one form of the invention has been shown for purposes of illustration, it is to be clearly understood that various changes in the details of construction and arrangement of parts may be made without departing from the scope of the invention as set forth in the appended claims.

Having thus set forth the nature of my invention, what I claim is:

l. A drying apparatus comprising a bottom unit having an imperforate front wall, heating means in said bottom unit in lateral line with said front Wall, a cabinet unit supported above floor level on said bottom unit and providing a drying charnber, a perforate front wall member at the bottom part of said cabinet unit adjacent and above said imperforate front wall, a baffle wall member at the bottom part of the said cabinet unit laterally opposed to said perforate front wall member and defining an air conduit downwardly into said bottom unit, and means for circulating air through said conduit past the heating means and upwardly through said cabinet unit for drying the contents thereof.

2. A drying apparatus comprising a drying chamber unit, a bottom unit on which said chamber unit is supported above floor level having an imperforate front wall inclined downwardly and inwardly between its upper and lower edges; heating means in said bottom unit, a perforate front wall member at the bottom part of said drying chamber unit adjacent and above said imperforate front wall, internal baffle wall means providing an air passage from said perforate wall member downwardly into said bottom unit, and means disposed adjacent the top of said chamber unit for drawing air upwardly therethrough.

amass 3. A drying apparatus comprising a cabinet unit open at top and bottom and having a rear wall, side walls and front closure means, a bottom unit secured to said cabinet unit and in communication therewith, a top section secured to said cabinet section in communication therewith and having ventilating apertures, a front plate member having ventilating openings extending between said said side walls of said cabinet unit adjacent the bottom thereof, a battle wall extending across said cabinet unit adjacent said front plate member and forming a conduit for directing incoming air downwardly to said bottom unit, heating means in said bottom unit, and means for circulating air upwardly through said units and out through said ventilating apertures.

4. A drying apparatus comprising a cabinet unit adapted to receive articles to be dried, a bottom unit secured to said cabinet unit and adapted to support the same, a top unit removably secured to said cabinet unit, said cabinet unit comprising side walls and a rear wall, said side walls having inwardly directed flanges at their front edges, a louver plate member adjacent the lower end of said cabinet unit and secured'to the lower portions of said flanges, an upper front wall portion extending transversely between and secured to the upper portions of said flanges, bafiie wall means within the lower portion of said cabinet unit extending between said side walls and directing downwardly into said bottom unit air entering through said louver structure, and said bame wall means including an upwardly directed} lower front wall portion extending transversely between and secured to said flanges and located at the inner sides of said flanges immediately above said louver plate member.

5. The dryer apparatus as in claim 4 including doors mounted on said flanges for movement to and from open positions and having their lower edges immediately above said louver plate member.

mm L. NEWm.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the Number Name Date 1,455,034 Small May 15, 1923 1,564,917 White Dec. 8, 1925 1,686,500 Whoril' Oct. 2, 1928 1,711,799 Kuenhold May 7, 1929 1,720,678 Judelson July 16, 1929 1,730,501 Glover bct. e, 1929 1,752,797 Hutchinson, a. Apr. 1, 1930 1,886,286 Martin l. Nov. 1, 1932 1,938,400 Pambrun Dec. 5, 1933 2,050,254 Barnsteiner Aug. 11, 1936 2,160,227 Platt May 30, 1939 2,372,790 Morgenstern Apr. 3, 1945 

